The Cigar Sweet Spot - Unravel the mystery

[garilla]

After sitting back and reading hundreds of reviews on Cigars, there seems to be one thing in common that has struck me as very odd recently, and I want to get to the bottom of it, as I have found the exact same thing as many others have.

What is the real reason that seemingly every single good Cigar we light up is consistently rated as "OK/good" during the first light or "1/3", yet once we reach the middle of the smoke or "2/3", the flavors just open up and it transforms itself into a "much better/amazing" smoke?

Anyone ever enjoy that 2/3 sweet spot so much you've actually thought "maybe if I just cut the cigar in half before I light it, I'll be at that sweet spot that much sooner...I wonder if that would work?"

Is it something chemical in the cigar, as the smoke passes through the tobacco with every draw that seems to unearth those great creamy smooth flavors that eventually come out?

Is it something in our own mouths that causes our taste buds to become numb to the sharpness of the smoke at first that gives us an artificial sense of flavor changes? Is it really all in our heads?

Whatever it is, we can all agree on one thing. When you hit that sweet spot in your favorite smoke, it's magically delicious.

I welcome your thoughts on the matter.

- Garilla

[LORD PUFFER]

I would have to think that temperature and moisture are the causes.

[kjd2121]

I don't know the answer. I just wanted to say I agree totally that most of the NC sticks that I smoke are as you describe. That is why I like the churchill sized smokes as once I'm past two inches I get five inches of great smooth taste. My favorites:

Padilla Miami 8/11
Habana Leon
Pepin Blue Label

[bazookajoe]

I had asked the question one time about just cutting off the first half inch to inch of the cigar to get past the rough part, and the response I got was that the bitterness of the initial half inch or so may be from the tobacco that was burned by the flame of the lighter, and would probably happen no matter how far in you light it. (68 word sentence - may be a record for me)

I think the improving flavor as you progress is from the part of the leaf that you're smoking. Maybe there is just more rich flavor as you move away from the end of the leaves. Certainly the nicotine picks up as you move toward the stem end.

[Uniputt]

It's really a combination of several things:

*Many people burn the end of the cigar (too much heat, failure to properly roast the foot).

*The slow "roasting" of the leaves in the cigar as you smoke it. (Gradually heating them up).

*The release of tars and oils in the leaves that accumulate on the remaining leaves.

*The smoke pasing through those leaves. The amount of leaves remaining that forms a "filter" (smaller cigars have less, bigger cigars have more) The tobacco blender actually accounts for this when developing a blend for manufacturing. That's why different sizes of the same blend taste a bit different. It's also whey you should never cut a cigar in half or thirds. (Don't laugh. I actually know a cheap bastard who cuts $2 toros into thirds!)

*The release of moisture, and how it interacts with the oils and tars that have built up in the cigar during combustion.

*The way you smoke it....it's actually possible to "overheat" a cigar by smoking it too fast.

*Your personal tastebuds.

*Your mind!


All of the above reasons can contribute to why a cigar changes flavors as you smoke it. They are also the very same reasons that cause a cigar to taste bad when it goes out and is then relit. There's probably a few more, but that's all I can think of right off the top of my head....

[jbo]

It goes both ways as well. I smoked an Indian Tobac Maduro on Sunday. When I first lit it, I thought, "This thing has NO flavor!" and I was really getting disappointed because I had looked forward to this all week. However, after about 1/2 inch the flavor started to kick in and it turned into an enjoyable smoke.

[No1der]

You guys have read a few of my somewhat unorthodox ways I do things.

Here is what I have found, from time to time I will give a cigar that I am about to smoke a very quick steam bath. I don't mean blasting it with steam or anything, just a 90rh enviornment for a few minutes.

This seems to moisturize the foot and the sweet spot starts much sooner this way.

Now I tend to be lazy so I don't do it every time or even that often because I just want to get to smoking. So what I think is happening is that the moisture allows the natural sugars in the "sweet spot" to vaporize without burning and that's why the "sweet spot" is so good.

Anyone who's ever burnt sugar on the stove will know just how bad and nasty the smell is. I think the same thing applies to cigars.

Just my findings and I'd love to hear some feedback.

[neoflex]

I think they put gobstoppers in the middle of cigars to give them more flavor at the midway point! J/K I tend to agree that it's the actual smoking of the tobacco that builds up to the increased flavor at the midway points. I'm guessing it may be a combination of the tars and oils from the burning tobacco that add flavor to the gar. Not to sure what the actual working of this phenom is but if you cut a gar in half it will not get you right to the sweet spot unfortunatly.

[eriksson20]

ciao!

i believe (note: this is a matter of faith), that the magic is in the warming oils within the deeper sections of the cigar. might be totally wrong thou. i am known to be wrong on many occasions...

so feed me to the wold monkeys me if i am wrong once again...

miker

[WyoBob]

I think Uniputt pretty well nailed it.

I also think that having the burning end closer to your face as the cigar gets shorter contributes to better flavors. Ever taken a wiff of the burning end? I do this quite a bit and you can get entirely different flavors doing this as opposed to just smoking the cigar. When first lighting up, the cigar may seem somewhat bland but take a wiff of the burning end. A lot of the time, I'll get a preview of things to come.

WyoBob